Should we all be in cloud nine about the cloud?

Emerging digital technologies an business models keep on bringing us a colourful palette of possibilities. When you want to take a business to the next level, digital transformation might offer you the opportunities that will get you there. Take for example the cloud and business intelligence. The cloud looks like the ideal platform for processing data. Does this mean all organisations need to hop on and float along?

The cloud as a pivot for Business Intelligence

The Internet of Things (IoT) and Business Intelligence (BI) are good reasons the cloud would be a great option for your business. Both IoT and BI are reshaping the way we do business and opening new opportunities, of which most of them yet to be discovered. Does this mean the cloud is imperative? Well, could be. It has the potential to enhance collaborations, provides ease of access to powerful data and creates flexibility. When you want to unlock valuable insights, be agile doing so and avoid spending a lot of money on building your own IT systems, than the cloud could be a really effective solution for your business.

As I stated in a previous post, digital is deeply rooted, meaning that digital technologies have an impact on all aspects of the organisation; on culture, governance, operations, workforce skills, product usage, distribution and so on. This is also the case with a cloud implementation. Only an impact analysis will therefore point out whether the cloud is in line with what you need to go forward without cornering your organisation.

I can imagine organisations wanting to move specific workloads over to the cloud, for example to be able to collect data in a production environment and analyse data in a different environment for avoiding safety to be at issue. Cloud BI tools offer features that enable effective decision-making, like dashboard KPIs, ease-of-use and anytime/anywhere access. But that’s different from moving all your mission critical applications to the cloud.

Recently InteL Security announced its annual cloud security report, that reveals many concerns in relation to security. Also according to this Thales report, that states that 63% of organisations is using advanced technologies without securing sensitive data. The cloud can bring enormous opportunities; it makes business intelligence (BI) accessible to pretty much any enterprise, even to small and medium-sized enterprises. But the cloud also maintains to have a lot of challenges on the rise. Something companies should take into account during the decision-making process on cloud usage. So, whether you should get excited about the cloud depends on your business, mission and goals.

Entrepreneurship is never without risks, but – as with all risk-taking – also in relation to the cloud it should be well-founded. Do the values you gain counterbalance the risks you take? If it does, embrace cloud.

Cloud computing, trendy or crucial?

IoT and BI could really benefit from a cloud strategy. Rethink the bigger picture. The first question should be: why cloud? Because it’s trendy or will it really take your organisation to the next level in relation to continuity, innovation and agility? The second: do I need to do this right know or would it be fine to wait a year and see in what direction the technology is evolving? Last but not least: what are my competitors doing? Are they waiting for the cloud to be more stable?

Yes, cloud computing is one of those technologies that can help you move forward, especially in times of rapid change. Should we be in cloud nine about it? Well, my line of approach would be to not get yourself overwhelmed by love at first sight. But once you get to know it and find out what it makes you capable of, go for it.

When you turn left, stay able to turn right

Do you always need to be able to turn back? Of course not. Sometimes you need to burn your boats behind you to turn it up a notch. It’s important that you know where you are heading and what the next step is after adopting a certain technology, implementing a digital strategy or changing your business model. And yes, the future is now. That doesn’t mean you need to adopt all technologies and business strategies.

As COO of Another Monday I aim to be a driving force behind innovation development. For me that means enabling people to unlock bright ideas. We live in a world of uncertainty. Many people believe they can find security by making a choice. The morale here is that this is not what security is. Just like adopting the latest technology does not necessarily makes you an innovative organisation. Entrepreneurship is about agility. It doesn’t matter what choice you pick, as long as you know what move you can make next…

Arjen van Berkum is a columnist, keynote speaker and motivator, with an eye for innovation and disruption. He is also a visiting lecturer at among other Delft University of Technology (TU Delft).
Arjen works as Chief Operations Officer (COO) at Another Monday, an intelligent automation company, where he lives and breaths automation and artificial intelligence.

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